Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Programming Discussion : php licensing script

[mjfroggy]

hello I am looking to create or use a licensing system for my php script which is soon to be released.
Anyway I know about phpaudit and the others but I really rather use my own script or custom solution.

can anyone point me to any good tutorials on this topic.
Also what are the pors and cons for the below mentioned scripts

http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread...ript+licensing

or this script here
http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/1226.html

the above two links I think would surve my purpose and allow me not to depend on another company. let me know all your comments good and bad

thanks all

[stuffradio]

What do you want us to comment on?

[JustinSmall]

Yes, and what kind of experience do you have? because tutorials aren't going to be the only way if your looking for super effeciency... PHPAudit is the way it is because of the experience that the programmers have... and because they know what they are doing.

[mjfroggy]

Well the first thread I listed above some posters said their are some loopholes in the suggested php code that is posted in the thread. So I was looking for any suggestions on if I were to use the code mentioned in this thread
http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread...ript+licensing
with some encryption would the licensing system be sufficient?

I also I was hoping to get some comments on the code posted at this url
http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/1226.html

both in terms of if I used the code samples would their be still loop holes in the codebase which would allow people to hack the code and bypass or trick the licensing system. I am faily knowledgable about php. I just have never created any licensing type code so I am unsre how such a thing would work. As I mentioned in my first post I am aware of phpaudit and sourceguardien etc however I am sure it is possible to creae my own licensing system. However I need some pointers/suggestions. As in things to besure to do to prevent people from bypassing or breaking the licensing system I would create. Was thinking maybe this forum had other coders who created their own code who could share previous experience on creating such a code base. Things to be sure to do things to strear clear of doing etc.

thanks all

[JustinSmall]

Sorry, but it seems to me you just want a free code without loop holes instead of paying for one and fixing teh loop holes.

I doubt anyone will throw you there code from here, they might, but very doubtful. The type of code your asking for is going to be a fairly big code... if your wanting to fix some loop holes, I'd go directly to the code your licensing. Because once they fix the licensing section on the code, then your screwed. So you need to make sure there is a serverside page or pages that they have to connect to. And you need to keep it hidden someway so that they can't take the code out and NULL it.

anyways, gl

[mjfroggy]

thanks KikosTemplates for your reply.

Although I was not asking for complete code to echo my commenst in this thread I was asking where the loopholes are what areas of concern to keep in mind as I fixup the base code from the other post or what areas should I keep in mind if I were to totally create my own script.

I was looking at the two scripts I mentioned as a model and trying to find out what would I need to improve on them when creating my own code.

Once again not asking for a complete code if I wanted a complete code I would go buy a finished product. Instead I was looking for something I can look over and learn from and even improve upon.

thanks for your time

[orbitz]

Originally Posted by Jreis

hello I am looking to create or use a licensing system for my php script which is soon to be released.
Anyway I know about phpaudit and the others but I really rather use my own script or custom solution.

can anyone point me to any good tutorials on this topic.
Also what are the pors and cons for the below mentioned scripts

http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread...ript+licensing

or this script here
http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/1226.html

the above two links I think would surve my purpose and allow me not to depend on another company. let me know all your comments good and bad

thanks all

for the first link: if the example.com is dead, then the script will not work on the customer's server. Therefore, modify the script when the server is not or not reachable - by allowing the script to execute when the sample is down.

[mjfroggy]

Thanks orbit

so if I were to have two sites it would look to verify information (chances of both sites being unreachable is uncommon as long as they are in seperate DC's)

what would be the other option? if the server the system "calls home" to is unreachable or dead?? I mean the goal would be if the system can not verify license information then the script should not run at all??

[tickedon]

Originally Posted by Jreis

Thanks orbit

so if I were to have two sites it would look to verify information (chances of both sites being unreachable is uncommon as long as they are in seperate DC's)

what would be the other option? if the server the system "calls home" to is unreachable or dead?? I mean the goal would be if the system can not verify license information then the script should not run at all??

I suppose a 'free tip' would be to consider carefully your method of 'call home'. What PHP functions / extensions / modules does it require? If you choose something like cURL, it's secure, but not available on all servers. If you choose fopen(), it's sometimes disabled due to security concerns. These are all perfectly good reasons why a call home wouldn't work and why instantly preventing your script from running isn't always a good idea.

Seriously consider what you're doing before you're doing it. I've seen countless products fail due to bad licensing - if people can't get your product working, it won't matter how good it is or how good your support is, people won't use it.